Police seek to detain head of a SAT hagwon in kidnapping
Published: 19 Feb. 2010, 21:34
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sought a warrant yesterday to detain the head of a private U.S.-based Scholastic Aptitude Test prep “R” institute surnamed Park, 40, on charges of kidnapping and threatening a top instructor who tried to leave for another academy. The instructor was allegedly forced to renew a contract.
Police also sought detention warrants against two other suspects - the man’s secretary, who is also surnamed Park, 35, and a 30-year-old deputy head of R surnamed Sohn - on the same charges. R has been linked to a burgeoning SAT cheating scandal since last month.
The three suspects allegedly kidnapped and beat Jeffrey Sohn, 38, a top SAT lecturer at R last December, police said. Investigators indicted an additional two workers at the R academy and three bodyguards without detention on charges of assisting in the kidnapping.
The suspects allegedly forced Sohn to get in a car when he was leaving R in Gangnam, southern Seoul, at around 10 p.m. on Dec. 21, said police.
They are accused of taking Sohn to a villa in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, and forcing him to sign a new contract.
Officers said the suspects allegedly kidnapped the lecturer again on Jan. 14 as he was leaving a hotel in Yeouido, Seoul to warn him not to tell anyone about the original kidnapping.
Police allege the suspects visited the instructor’s parents to ask for his whereabouts after he disappeared following the first kidnapping. The head of R and other collaborators eventually found where Sohn was hiding by tracing his credit card use, investigators said.
Sohn has been accused himself of leaking SAT questions and answers via e-mail and by uploading them to an online community after taking the test himself. Police have banned him from traveling overseas.
Another lecturer surnamed Kim, 38, at the R institute allegedly obtained SAT questions and answers from someone who took the exam in Bangkok, Thailand. Another instructor surnamed Jang, 36, was detained on Feb. 11 for allegedly using three undergraduates to steal math and physics questions when they took SAT subject tests.
By Lee Min-yong [[email protected]]
Police also sought detention warrants against two other suspects - the man’s secretary, who is also surnamed Park, 35, and a 30-year-old deputy head of R surnamed Sohn - on the same charges. R has been linked to a burgeoning SAT cheating scandal since last month.
The three suspects allegedly kidnapped and beat Jeffrey Sohn, 38, a top SAT lecturer at R last December, police said. Investigators indicted an additional two workers at the R academy and three bodyguards without detention on charges of assisting in the kidnapping.
The suspects allegedly forced Sohn to get in a car when he was leaving R in Gangnam, southern Seoul, at around 10 p.m. on Dec. 21, said police.
They are accused of taking Sohn to a villa in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, and forcing him to sign a new contract.
Officers said the suspects allegedly kidnapped the lecturer again on Jan. 14 as he was leaving a hotel in Yeouido, Seoul to warn him not to tell anyone about the original kidnapping.
Police allege the suspects visited the instructor’s parents to ask for his whereabouts after he disappeared following the first kidnapping. The head of R and other collaborators eventually found where Sohn was hiding by tracing his credit card use, investigators said.
Sohn has been accused himself of leaking SAT questions and answers via e-mail and by uploading them to an online community after taking the test himself. Police have banned him from traveling overseas.
Another lecturer surnamed Kim, 38, at the R institute allegedly obtained SAT questions and answers from someone who took the exam in Bangkok, Thailand. Another instructor surnamed Jang, 36, was detained on Feb. 11 for allegedly using three undergraduates to steal math and physics questions when they took SAT subject tests.
By Lee Min-yong [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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